I get very little Croatian wine where I am but have enjoyed (as far as I recall!) every one that I've got my hands on. The Saints Hills St Ante Posh was certainly one to enjoy! Owner Ernest Tolj established his Saints Hills winery, as he says, " but a stone’s throw away from Dubrovnik, and two from Diocletian’s Palace in Split and Vespasian’s Amphitheater in Pula." A romantic description to be sure. But for clarity's sake
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Chamlija winery is known to many in Turkey for its enthusiasm for planting grapes not native to Turkey. In addition to grapes that have become so common as to be passé (e.g. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay), Chamlija likes to stretch things by planting uncommon grapes. It is, for example, one of the few wineries cultivating Riesling. It is the only winery growing Albariño, Assyrtiko, Mavrud, Kadarka, and Xinomavro. All of these wine are good, because Chamlija undeniably makes good wines. Some of them are even interesting. But they wouldn't always jump out of a blind tasting lineup as what they are. Regardless, it is always exciting to
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Crete is an amazing place to visit, for so many reasons, but especially so if you're a wine enthusiast. The island is home to so many grape varieties, many not found elsewhere, not even the Greek mainland. One variety I learned about during my visit was the black grape, Kotsifali. Kotsifali is a little tricky to work with in the vineyard. It is vigorous and highly productive and largely disease-resistant. All good things. But, it can be prone to downy mildew and botrytis. The main trick is to try to curb the grape’s naturally high alcohol tendency but still leave it on the vine long for sufficient time to
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The first Experimental Series wine Kayra released was an old vine Semillon. A couple years have passed since that one, which made me wonder if there even was going to be another in the series. I don't know if the winery was waiting for inspiration to strike or waiting for perfection, but it hit it big with the new Karkuş. [caption id="attachment_16265" align="alignright" width="225"] 60+ year old Karkuş vine[/caption] Karkuş (also known as Kerküş) has lived in shadows for some time. A grape traditionally used by Turkey's small Assyrian population, Karkuş grows in the high heat, semi-arid southeast near the country's borders with Syria and Iraq. New plantings of this
Read MoreEach one of America's 50 states produces wine. You don't have to be a wine aficionado to have heard of wine from California, Oregon, Washington, or New York. The more adventurous drinker of American wine may also be familiar with wine from Michigan, Virginia, Texas, or even New Mexico. But even the more 'unusual suspects' states produce wine, such as Idaho, Hawaii, and Florida. And yes, even that most northern of states, sitting on the 60th parallel, Alaska. Certainly it is not the first state that comes to mind when one thinks about winemaking! The climate is largely subarctic with pockets here and there of dry-summer subarctic and
Read MoreSince shifting some of its focus to quality wines, Selçuk area-based Akberg Winery has sourced grapes from around the country. Narince from its home in Tokat, Emir from Cappadocia, Papazkarası from Thrace, Çalkarası from Çal, and so on. The winery's decision to do so stems from its belief that a grape naturally grows in certain terroir for a reason. While a grape might happily grow elsewhere (Narince being a great example), not all react well to that (Emir). The winery then views the entirely of Turkey as one giant vineyard, ergo its label, Büyükbağ (large vineyard). [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="300"] Osmanca - photo from Wayana Wine Bar[/caption] But not all of Akberg's
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The Urla district of İzmir in Turkey's Aegean region has become a hotbed of trendy wineries. Many belong to the Urla Bağ Yolu (the easiest, if not the most interesting wine route to navigate). But not all wineries in the area belong to the wine route. Personally, I find those few to be the more interesting wineries. Like Hus Şarapçılık. Founded in 2017 by Ceylan Ertörer Diaz Leon and Juan Pablo Diaz Leon, Hus Şarapçılık is a family venture that blends the Chilean wine background of Juan Pablo's family, and the agricultural history belong to Ceylan's family. Sadly, in 2021, Juan Pablo passed away. Ceylan has bravely continued the
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Used to be that Markogianni was not a winery with which I was familiar. A friend recommended their Vorias and Helios amber Assyrtiko to me some time ago. That one wine was all it took really to sell me on the whole winery. Subsequent trips have seen me tracking down more and more of their wines and I am dying to visit them. Located to the far west of the country, near the Ionian sea and ancient Olympia, Markogianni Winery is a family-run winery launched in 1982. They soon converted to organic cultivation and in 2001 were certified by DIO. Between their own vineyards and the growers with whom
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Even if you're not a wine geek, you've heard about ageing wine. I get the question from time to time; people asking if they should age this or that bottle of Turkish wine. Oe expects to age bottles from many established wine regions, like Barolo, Brunello, Mosel, Bordeaux, Champagne, Rioja, etc. We also know that grapes like Riesling, Assyrtiko, Pinot Noir, Nebbiolo and so forth generally do better with a couple years under their belt. But ageing Turkish wine? Grey area. For why? you might ask. Doesn't Turkey have a wine industry essentially as old as grapes? Indeed it does. For 8000 plus years various peoples have made wine
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If I feel like I have a hard time selling the concept of Turkish wine, how must the Baltic countries feel? This question came up recently when Goda, owner of Vines & Pearls, shared with me a bottle of Geri Metai rowan wine. I knew a number of northern countries made wine, so I was not overly surprised when Goda offered to share a bottle of wine from her home country. Up until the early 20th century, Lithuania was more of a beer and mead producing kind of country. Many of us would hear that and think, well yes obviously. As far north as it sits, Lithuania enjoys neither
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